Diabetes

[StagLefty]

Had my yearly physical yesterday and Doc says my sugar count has been moving up gradually since 2012 and at the present increase I will probably be diabetic by next year's physical.
Blood pressure and cholesterol both in good numbers.
He's given me recommendations for pre-diabetes such as weight loss and diet changes. I was just wondering what any of you folks are doing if your in the same boat.
Especially diet regimen. At my age I really struggle with diet changes.

[wyome]

yup....
eat more greens, less red meat (!) and breads, lay off the sodas, lose some weight, and get more exercise.

if that doesn't help then big big changes in diet and exercise are needed. And probably add in some prescription meds too.

[colorider]

Get rid of white bread, white rice, potatoes. Whole grains and whole wheat are your friends. Ditch sugars and refined premade foods. Even salad dressings are loaded with sugars. If you drink alcohol frequently, watch your intake. Lose weight. Take the docs warning VERY seriously. You don't want to get diabetes. You have a chance to avoid it. Do it.

[HoneyBadger]

Get rid of white bread, white rice, potatoes. Whole grains and whole wheat are your friends. Take the docs warning VERY seriously. You don't want to get diabetes. You have a chance to avoid it. Do it.

Actually, wheat bread is FULL of sugar. White bread is better for you in that regard. Honestly, just avoiding all bread is going to be better for you in the long run. Avoid all processed foods as much as possible. Good rule of thumb: when grocery shopping, only buy the stuff around the outside edges of the store. All the isles in the middle of the store are filled with unhealthy and processed stuff that your body doesn't need.

Rule at the HB house: If you can't pick it, kill it or make it at home from fresh stuff, then you probably shouldn't be eating it. FWIW, my wife has been living with a very serious and still undiagnosed digestive disorder for 8 years. She has been to 20+ GI specialists and they finally just labeled it as IBS... which really means "I don't have a f*cking clue what's wrong with your digestive system". Living by the HB house rule has helped her tremendously.

As with all free advice... you're welcome.

[TheWeeze]

My wife's parents are in the same boat. Big diet changes, exercise, just general health conscious decisions. You definitely don't want to be diabetic, so these changes now will help in the long run. It's amazing what good losing 20 lbs does for you.

Sent from my concealed and carried cellular telephone.

[StagLefty]

I think most of my work is going to be diet. I do a 10 mile bike ride every morning,don't drink or smoke.
Looking at some of the regular foods in the house this a.m. every thing is loaded with sugar !

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[Jeffrey Lebowski]

Had my yearly physical yesterday and Doc says my sugar count has been moving up gradually since 2012 and at the present increase I will probably be diabetic by next year's physical.
Blood pressure and cholesterol both in good numbers.
He's given me recommendations for pre-diabetes such as weight loss and diet changes. I was just wondering what any of you folks are doing if your in the same boat.
Especially diet regimen. At my age I really struggle with diet changes.

I think most of my work is going to be diet. I do a 10 mile bike ride every morning,don't drink or smoke.
Looking at some of the regular foods in the house this a.m. every thing is loaded with sugar !

Sent from my KFOT using Tapatalk 2

How is your weight? The bolded part is really good….

[StagLefty]

How is your weight? The bolded part is really good….

6' & 214 lbs. Doc seems concerned about a 14 lb gain since 2010 . That's since retirement and probably due to a slow down in daily activity. He wants a 10 lb drop.

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[68Charger]

StagLefty[/B];Ithink most of my work is going to be diet. I do a 10 mile bike ride every morning,don't drink or smoke.
Looking at some of the regular foods in the house this a.m. every thing is loaded with sugar !

Sent from my KFOT using Tapatalk 2

How is your weight? The bolded part is really good….

LFMAO at the fact that "or smoke" isn't bold... it has nothing but downsides to health.

Smoking is also a factor in Diabetes... good thing you're aren't smoking. My advice (as an engineer, not a Doctor) is cut 100% of High Fructose Corn Syrup, and significantly reduce SIMPLE carbs- if you're prone to Diabetes (like I am), the 10Lbs will fly off with a moderate reduction in simple carbs (starches & sugars)... Doc told me based on my workup to not be concerned about fats- I don't metabolize them well- but excess simple carbs are quickly processed into Triglycerides, and lead to insulin resistance... you can have a bowl of sugar cereal- but only right before you do that bike ride (and calculate, you should be burning 80% of it on the ride alone).

The above plan, and within 6 weeks my numbers were back in normal range, and trending even better. 10 years later I'm sometimes lax on the excess carbs, but as a rule I gravitate towards meat & eggs rather than sugars and starches.... so a recent checkup and my HbA1c Diabetes check comes up 100% clean- right in the middle of normal.

[Jeffrey Lebowski]

6' & 214 lbs. Doc seems concerned about a 14 lb gain since 2010 . That's since retirement and probably due to a slow down in daily activity. He wants a 10 lb drop.

Have you ever done simple counting calories vs. basal metabolic rate (estimated) and caloric burn (estimated)?
I think you'd learn a lot by doing so, especially if you go past just calories into macronutrients.

There are probably some things you could lose, and the easiest things tend to be the liquids in terms of sodas, juices, alcohols, etc.
Small changes over time, and maybe up the bike ride and intensity, if you were previously more active at work.

LFMAO at the fact that "or smoke" isn't bold... it has nothing but downsides to health.
Smoking is also a factor in Diabetes... good thing you're aren't smoking.

I agree it does nothing good for you (well, +/- weight loss but the bad certainly outweighs), and it doesn't help if you HAVE DM, but it isn't going to really be a risk factor at this point, other than reflection on health as a whole.

My advice (as an engineer, not a Doctor) is cut 100% of High Fructose Corn Syrup, and significantly reduce SIMPLE carbs- if you're prone to Diabetes (like I am), the 10Lbs will fly off with a moderate reduction in simple carbs (starches & sugars)... Doc told me based on my workup to not be concerned about fats- I don't metabolize them well- but excess simple carbs are quickly processed into Triglycerides, and lead to insulin resistance... you can have a bowl of sugar cereal- but only right before you do that bike ride (and calculate, you should be burning 80% of it on the ride alone).

My advice as a pharmacist would be slightly different than my advice as a regular dude, which is what I'll offer.
I'm not at all into finding that one thing to avoid, but rather just slowly improving as a whole. My diet is very, very high carb as a percentage of the whole, which I wouldn't necessarily recommend. That said, my blood sugar last two visits haven't even been in the normal range from the low side (both times at 56). But, I'm also a strict vegetarian (vegan when at home), and my weekly exercise volume for running and cycling is ~12-15 hrs / week. I wouldn't push this diet for everyone, but after lymphoma, I changed mine.

"The China Study" is the worthwhile read I'd personally recommend if you were serious, improving your diet as a whole would be my recommendation just generally.